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SCUTTLEBUTT 2825 - Friday, April 17, 2009Scuttlebutt is published each weekday with the support of its sponsors,providing a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Today's sponsors are Doyle Sailmakers and West Marine. GETTING READY TO DEFEND (April 16, 2009) The Audi MedCup Circuit in Europe has become the elite professional sailing series, with big budget teams competing in highly refined TP52s. In 2008, American Terry Hutchinson quarterbacked a brand new team to victory, with this accomplishment leading to him earning the U.S. Rolex Yachtsman of the Year award. Terry is bringing his team, Quantum Racing, back for the 2009 MedCup series, and provides Scuttlebutt with an update on their preparation: * What is your training schedule leading up to the first event, the City of Alicante Trophy, on May 12th? Terry Hutchinson: “I am currently in Valencia, Spain getting ready to sail; Friday (April 17th) will be our first day. With the changes to the inside of the yacht, the first two days is about going through the process of sea trialing the boat, testing systems, and making sure everything is going to work. On Monday the 20th of April, we begin a four day training session with the Desafio Espanol and will train as a full team. This will be much about setting the template for the rest of the year and checking out the new sails. On May 7th we will start a 5-day training session prior to the first regatta with Emirates Team New Zealand (ETNZ) and other teams that want to join.” * What changes have been made to the 2009 MedCup series (compared to 2008)? TH: “There are a few changes. One less regatta in the schedule (five in 2009) and seven fewer sail buttons available. This makes managing the sail card over the season very tricky. Within the sails you are allowed to carry over three sails to grandfather making the total of 21 sails for 50 races. The reality is that it is not a lot so managing the sail aspect of program is incredibly important. One less regatta is a good feature for the series. There is an event a month starting in May and ending in September. There is good time between regattas to make sure all necessary repairs and maintenance can be done to the boats. Again there is a high premium on no breakages. Cannot lose any races to gear failures!” * In the 2008 MedCup, you brought together a boat-mast-sail-crew package that was not a proven commodity, and worked really hard to develop it. What changes to this package have you made for 2009? -- Read on: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/09/0416 => Curmudgeon’s Comment: The second half of my interview with Terry will be next week in Scuttlebutt 2826. TELEFONICA BLUE LEADS FLEET AT THE GATE (Apr. 16, 2009; Day 6) - Holding their lead in the Volvo Ocean Race, Telefonica Blue was first to the Leg 6 scoring gate at Fernando de Noronha (eastern tip of Brazil), crossing the landmark at the South Atlantic archipelago at 19:58 GMT. Bouwe Bekking and his men pick up four points for their efforts. Their lead over second-placed Ericsson 4 was 22 miles at the point of reaching Noronha, but by 22:15 had grown to 35 miles, possibly a result of T-Blue bearing away for broader reaching angles compared to the fleet that was sheeted in to reach the western end of the gate. It was the second time Bekking had been first to reach Noronha after a similar feat on Leg 1 in the 2005-06 race. On that occasion, he pipped ABN AMRO ONE (re-invented as Delta Lloyd in 2008-09) for the points. "The rounding didn't come easy,” Bekking said. “Heavy squalls accompanied us, and 10 miles before the gate, the breeze dropped from 23 knots to 3 knots. But we made the right call on the sail choice and soon we were off again. We rounded just before it became dark, in a huge rain squall, so visibility was reduced, but we had a glimpse of the island. We are all happy to have beaten Ericsson 4. Let’s see if we can keep going like this until the finish ... which is still a long way away.” -- http://tinyurl.com/dlcqw5 Crewed around the world race in VO 70’s, with ten distance legs and seven In-Port races. Leg Six from Rio de Janiero, Brazil to Boston, MA, USA is 4,900 nm, with the finish estimated on April 27th. Current positions (as of Apr. 16, 22:15 GMT): 1. Telefónica Blue (ESP), Bouwe Bekking/NED, 3,508 nm Distance to Finish 2. Ericsson 4 (SWE), Torben Grael/BRA, 35 nm Distance to Leader 3. Telefonica Black (ESP), Fernando Echavarri/ESP, 38 nm DTL 4. Delta Lloyd (IRL), Roberto Bermudez/ESP, 38 nm DTL 5. PUMA (USA), Ken Read/USA, 43 nm DTL 6. Ericsson 3 (SWE), Magnus Olsson/SWE, 43 nm DTL 7. Green Dragon (IRL/CHN), Ian Walker/GBR, 67 nm DTL Team Russia (RUS), Andreas Hanakamp/AUT, Did Not Start Event website: http://www.volvooceanrace.org Race tracking: http://volvooceanrace.geovoile.com Overall scores: http://www.volvooceanrace.org/rdc/#tab4 LARGER THAN LIFE Looming over 80-feet tall, AXIA's painted Seahorse spinnaker delighted the fleet at the recent St. Barths Bucket Regatta. Doyle Sailmakers takes pride in making our customers' dreams become reality by transferring sketches, ideas, or sponsorship graphics onto sails. Using 30+ years of experience and a variety of techniques, we can produce highly customized sail graphics on a wide variety of fabrics. For more details, call 800-94-DOYLE or visit http://www.doylesails.com/graphics THE LONG ROAD HOME PUMA skipper Kenny Read spoke with Sailing World prior to the start of Leg 6 from Rio to Boston: * What's left for you to get more out of the boat? Ken Read: “We can't do anything to the boat. The only speed producing stuff we can do is how we sail the boat, and the sails themselves. We have new ones this leg. There's a lot of changes to geometry, re-cuts. If you don't get faster at each stopover you're going to get shot out the back.” * Which new sails (do you have) for this leg? KR: “On this leg we have four new sails, which is a lot: two kites, two headsails. We don't design our sails until we need them. We had a pre-race schedule of what we thought based on historical data. We've stuck pretty close to the model we had before the race started. You're only allowed 24 for the whole race, so you need to treat your sail button as if it's you're first-born child. It's really important. You can't just throw away a sail button, so each sail has to get better. “I think we're in better shape, physically, with our sails than anyone. We caught on early how brutal the UV would be in this race. We're going 30 percent longer and crossing the equator four times, not two. So the amount of UV exposure on these sails is ruthless. It's a brutal part of this race. That's the problem with the sails; it's not from a structural standpoint, it's just that the sun is rotting stuff all over the boat—sails, ropes, and bodies, too. You have to be careful of it.” * Speaking of bodies, Ericsson 4 has yet to rotate anyone off the boat. How important is this in the long run? KR: “My opinion is that if I did this over again I'd be changing way more people. Knowing what I know, I think a well-conceived plan to rotate people...Trust me, with our team, the bolt of energy that Jerry [Kirby] brought to a 41-day leg cannot be discarded. One person can add a wonderful dimension to the boat. I'd have even more rotation. I might even rotate myself off. I'm just as tired as anyone else. I like what we did and might even do it more if I did it again.” Full interview: http://tinyurl.com/ckoxys DEVELOPING A NEW "FLYING BOAT" A revolutionary Franco-Swiss "flying yacht" project that aims to smash the round-the-world sailing record has entered a new phase. Experts at Lausanne's Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) on Wednesday presented to the media a small prototype catamaran which they are helping to develop. It is based on the Hydroptère hydrofoil vessel – the world's fastest sailing boat. The new test boat, known as Hydroptère.ch, will serve as a model for a future giant catamaran, Hydroptère Maxi, which will aim to beat the current 57-day round-the-world record. "We would like to go around the world in 40 days within the next two or three years," Alain Thébault, the 46-year-old Breton who is the brains and the driving force behind the Hydroptère. -- Read on: http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng => Curmudgeon’s Comment: The current record for a solo circumnavigation is 57 days while the crewed record is 50 days: http://tinyurl.com/dfb48q FRENCH CAPTAIN RECOUNTS HOSTAGE-TAKING BY PIRATES A French captain who knows his pirates has some advice for other sailors: "When you see them coming, it's too late." A year ago, Patrick Marchesseau watched helplessly as a band of Somali pirates hijacked his ship and took him and his crew hostage in the turbulent Gulf of Aden. The pirates held him captive aboard Le Ponant, the 288-foot (88-meter) luxury sailing yacht he was captaining, before French commandos freed him and others in a raid. "It's not worth shooting at them," Marchesseau said of the pirates, speaking by telephone Wednesday from the Egyptian coast, where he is once again on Le Ponant. He even sailed the ship through the dangerous Gulf of Aden last week, this time escorted by military forces. "(Pirates) are more armed than you, and life has, I think, a bit less importance in Somalia, based on what I've seen," he said. Piracy has exploded off the East African coast, and ship captains, shipping companies and international military forces are struggling to find an effective way to stop the attacks. Marauders armed with rocket-launchers and machine guns have already attacked 79 ships this year and are still holding 280 crew members and 15 ships hostage, according to the International Maritime Bureau. -- Read on: http://www.mercurynews.com/nationworld/ci_12156222?nclick_check=1 CLEANER AND GREENER! West Marine is proud to introduce our new Pure Oceans product line, a selection of boat care products specifically formulated to be kinder to the environment while delivering equal performance to less environmentally-friendly formulas. This new line includes soaps, cleaners, and surface care products that are less toxic, less environmentally persistent, and less bio-accumulative than more harmful, conventional formulations. Be good to your boat, and be good to the environment with West Marine’s new Pure Oceans Boat Care Products. Visit http://www.westmarine.com or call 1-800-BOATING to locate one of our nearby stores. PHOTOS OF THE WEEK Some of the random photos from the sport received this week at Scuttlebutt include a Southern Ocean rescue, a Lithuanian mission, balance ball training, keelboat trapezing, “another” state of the art 105-foot trimaran coming out of the shed, and the Alinghi team’s latest view of their new Challenger of Record. If you have images you would like to share, send them to the Scuttlebutt editor. Here are this week’s photos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/09/0417 * BONUS: Alinghi launched its recently modified Décision 35 on Thursday from the Alinghi boatyard in Villeneuve, Switzerland in preparation for Challenge Julius Baer which start on May 8th on Lake Geneva, Switzerland. So, you ask. They did it by HELICOPTER: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/09/0416/ ABOVE AND BEYOND Until the start of the inaugural Portimão Global Ocean Race in Portugal late last year, the longest distance race for a Class 40 was 4,300 miles in the 2007 edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre from Le Havre, France, to Salvador de Bahia, Brazil. In the three legs of the Portimão Global Ocean Race completed so far, the Class 40s entered have sailed a total of 21,400 miles with the minimum leg distance of 6,900 miles and the maximum of 7,500 miles in the recent Leg 3. Although Class 40s were designed predominantly for transatlantic races, the boats are now proving robust, safe and fast in sea conditions that naval architects had not factored into the design equation. With the Portimão Race competitors and pioneers consistently pushing the class parameters and exceptional interest growing for the next edition of this round-the-world event, the class association, the group of designers involved and the class members are keenly following developments after an initial resistance towards the concept of a circumnavigation race in evenly-matched 40-footers. -- Read on: http://www.portimaoglobaloceanrace.com/?page=news&news_id=268&lang=en SAILING SHORTS * The University of Rhode Island Student Senate awarded financial assistance to three student organizations last night totaling $9,900. The URI Sailing Team received the majority of the funds with a $6,000 loan. Junior captain Jesse Fielding, who spoke on behalf of the team, said the money would go to defray a portion of the cost of competing in the Student Yachting World Cup in Marseille, France. The team qualified to compete in the October 2009 World Cup with its Nov. 9 victory at the United States Naval Academy's John F. Kennedy Memorial Regatta. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/cmopus * West Marine today reported net sales of US$101.0m for its first quarter ended April 4, 2009, a decline of 10.9 per cent compared to the same period a year ago. Same-store sales also declined 6.8 per cent for the quarter."Our first quarter sales were right about where we expected. The boating equipment market continued to be challenged, and all of the well-documented macro-economic impacts on our industry negatively affected customer purchasing activities," said Geoff Eisenberg, CEO, in a statement, adding that the company's market share "continued to rise" during the quarter. -- IBI Magazine, read on: http://www.ibinews.com/ibinews/newsdesk/20090316153337ibinews.html * The Florida legislature is considering a new bill that would put a cap on the sales tax charged for yachts and airplanes in an effort to stem the flow of sales going to other states and countries. -- Soundings Trade Only, read on: http://tinyurl.com/cc8yxk * Forty sailors across 10 teams are now officially confirmed for the six event 2009 iShares Cup, who between them have over 50 World Championship titles, 27 America’s Cup participations, 17 Round the World navigations and 14 Olympic campaigns. Skippers include James Spithill (AUS), Nick Moloney (AUS), Carolijn Brouwer (BEL), Shirley Robertson (GBR), Yann Guichard (FRA), Franck Cammas (FRA), Erik Maris (FRA), Pete Cumming (GBR), and Loïck Peyron (FRA). The first event will be in Venice, Italy on May 15-17. -- Full report: http://www.isharescup.com/container.asp?id=20619 * The International Monohull Open Class Associationhas employed Portas Consulting, an independent sports business consultancy, to carry out an audit of the Open 60 class and to feed back strategic organisation and commercial advice. The class is evaluating how best to adapt to the new economic world and to continue evolving in a professional way. -- Full report: http://www.imoca.org/container.asp?id=20626 * CORRECTIONS: In Scuttlebutt 2822, a quote attributed to Wouter Verbraak said that he was the navigator for Green Dragon. Actually, he holds that role for Delta Lloyd. In Scuttlebutt 2824, an update was posted from the latest release of the ISAF World Sailing Rankings on 15 April 2009. Omitted from that update was the Laser ranking of Canadian Michael Leigh, who is presently in third position. - Full report: http://www.sailing.org/27989.php VIDEO OF THE WEEK This week we have two options - serious and very not serious: * On CNN Mainsail, double Olympic gold medalist Shirley Robertson goes exploring both ends of the spectrum. Robertson travels to the Caribbean and the St Barth's Bucket regatta where entry is restricted to some of the finest superyachts of 100 feet and more. On the flip side, Robertson is connected via live satellite video call to the VO 70 PUMA during Leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-2009, with the crew providing her a tour of their hellish hovel where crews share bunks, sails crowd out the living quarters and a hot meal is boiling water poured into a bucket of freeze dried food powder. Click here for these videos: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/09/0417 * Harry Manko's videos have been profiled in Scuttlebutt before, and his ability to adapt his sense of humor to the sport is always worth a look. This production is called, "The Wednesday Night Regatta," probably because it uses a song of the same name by Loren Davidson. As Loren explains, "This song isn't about any particular race, but I think it captures the feel of many of them. It's also the first time I've successfully merged a Celtic-style riff with boats and beer." As for Harry's explanation, we are still waiting. Click here for this video: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/09/0417a/ * If you have a video you like, please send your suggestion for next week’s Video of the Week to mailto:craig@sailingscuttlebutt.com LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON Reader commentary is encouraged, with letters to be submitted to the Scuttlebutt editor, aka, ‘The Curmudgeon’. Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name, and be no longer than 250 words (letter might be edited for clarity or simplicity). You only get one letter per subject, and save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. As an alternative, a more open environment for discussion is available on the Scuttlebutt Forum. -- To submit a Letter: editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com -- To post on the Forum: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum * From Richard Jepsen: Adding to the list in Scuttlebutt 2824, “45 Reasons To Learn How To Sail”: #46 - Learning to sail builds confidence and self-reliance in this automated, insulated age. #47- Learning to sail improves situational awareness, risk management and leadership skills * From John Tormey: (re, America’s Cup story in Scuttlebutt 2824) I for one hope that commercial considerations have no bearing at all on what is decided for the 33rd America's Cup. Either choice - Deed of Gift match or multi-challenger event - will be a spectacle, but the best choice is the one that will allow the event to occur the soonest. * From Forum (trough): I love the idea of a DOG match because it is so different, particularly in crazy-big and crazy fast-boats, with the added mystery of what SNG will do, that it will attract much broader interest in a shorter time than the Acts over years. That will jump-start interest in sailing and really be something to talk about for a wider audience than a progression of events over years. We can (and I assume would) go back to the Valencia format, but let's really make it interesting for more people next Feb and have all the build-up and excitement of a really extreme event! -- http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=7336#7336 TWEET, TWEET Scuttlebutt editor Craig Leweck will be boarding the Friday 7:45 am Southwest flight from San Diego to Oakland to attend the Strictly Sail Pacific & Power Boat Expo. If you care to ride virtual shotgun, Craig will be posting his observations from the show on Scuttlebutt’s Twitter page. What is Twitter? Check it out here: http://twitter.com/scuttbutt * If you are planning to attend the show, Scuttlebutt has discount tickets here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/banners/strictlysail CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION Married men live longer than single men do, but married men are a lot more willing to die. Special thanks to Doyle Sailmakers and West Marine. 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